Homes England, the government’s housing and regeneration agency, has unveiled its new five-year Strategic Plan, setting out how it intends to enable the delivery of more good quality, affordable homes and the regeneration of towns and cities across England.
Underpinned by more than £16bn in government funding, the plan was described by the agency as “both a call to arms and an offer to the entire housing and regeneration sector”.
It said that as well as underlining its ongoing desire to work with all organisations in the housing and regeneration sector, the strategic plan committed Homes England to “working in a more place-based way – tailoring its powers, funding, expertise and technical capacity to the specific challenges faced in different parts of England”.
The agency outlined five objectives for the next five years:
- Support the creation of vibrant and successful places that people can be proud of, working with local leaders and other partners to deliver housing-led mixed-use regeneration with a brownfield-first approach.
- Facilitate the creation of the homes people need, intervening where necessary to ensure places have enough homes of the right type and tenure.
- Build a housing and regeneration sector that works for everyone, driving diversification, partnership working, and innovation.
- Promote the creation of high-quality homes in well-designed places that reflect community priorities by taking an inclusive and long-term approach.
- Enable sustainable homes and places, maximising their positive contribution to the natural environment and minimising their environmental impact.
The agency said it would continue to work closely with government to play an active role in building safety, while providing help and support to local leaders to overcome capacity and capability barriers delaying delivery on the ground.
It added that it would also continue to support the use of Modern Methods of Construction (MMC), despite Legal & General’s decision earlier this month to close its modular factory in Yorkshire and the collapse last year of Urban Splash’s modular arm.
Chair of Homes England, Peter Freeman (pictured), said: “There is no doubt that housing plays an enormous role in the wellbeing and prosperity of our country. As an agency, we firmly believe that affordable, quality homes in well-designed places are key to improving people’s lives. And our updated strategic plan has been designed to enable us to deliver against that.
“Over the next five years, we will continue to work with housebuilders of all shapes and sizes to boost housing supply. But we will also focus on the places those homes sit in, working ever more closely with local leaders and other partners to build communities as well as housing, be it through housing-led, mixed-use regeneration or new settlements.
“This is a pivotal moment for Homes England as we reaffirm our role as the government’s housing and regeneration agency and go even further in helping to create the thriving places of the future.”
Rachel Maclean, minister for housing, said: “Creating high-quality and sustainable homes that people can be proud of is an absolute priority for this government. We continue to work with partners and developers to facilitate a brownfield-first approach to meet local housing needs for local people.
“That is why we are supporting Homes England’s Strategic Plan, which will help deliver the affordable, well-designed homes the country needs, in the places people want them.”
Chief executive of Homes England, Peter Denton, added: “The 2023-2028 strategic plan is a signal of intent, to maintain a rigorous focus on increasing housing supply, while working with partners to support the creation, regeneration and continued wellbeing of communities right across England. We will deliver homes and places people are proud to live in for generations to come.”
